Donna Tartt

Richard Papen had never been to New England before his nineteenth year. Then he arrived at Hampden College and quickly became seduced by the sweet, dark rhythms of campus life – in particular by an elite group of five students, Greek scholars, worldly, self-assured, and at first glance, highly unapproachable.

The Secret History 

shelley

What could possibly be better, from our point of view, than allowing Bunny to choose the circumstances of his own death?

julia

Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.

Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.

Sashi

The more cultivated a person is, the more intelligent, the more repressed, then the more he needs some method of channeling the primitive impulses he's worked so hard to subdue.

"We don't like to admit it," said Julian, "but the idea of losing control is one that fascinates controlled people such as ourselves more than almost anything.”

"Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming."

But isn't it also pain that often makes us most aware of self?

lucrezia

I think about a lot of things. I think about the first time I ever saw a birch tree; […] ; about the first sentence that I ever learned in Greek. Χαλεπά τα καλά. Beauty is harsh.

There is nothing wrong with the love of Beauty. But Beauty - unless she is wed to something more meaningful - is always superficial.

😂 in the holy month I eventually held my words close to chest as I read this book istg IM TIRED. 

dame

“I hope you’ll excuse me,” he said, “but I’m late for an appointment.”

Daizo 

“"I'm not dead," he said. "I'm only having a bit of trouble with my passport."”

“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the one I did not.”

“The way I looked at her sometimes, when I woke up in the morning, frightened her.

“(he never lived to see them bloom, it occurs to me, those roses that smelled like raspberries)”

“"The stupidest thing I ever did in my life was listening to you," Charles said.”

“"I loved him more than my own father," he said. "I loved him more than anyone in the world."”

“"Y'know," he said, Julian is like one of those people that'll pick all his favorite chocolates out of the box and leave the rest."”

“It was one of the reasons I loved him: for that flattering light in which he saw me, for the person I was when I was with him, for what it was he allowed me to be.”

“I remember only one other thing, which was its closing line, and the only thing I saw which struck a pang at me: "Please Help me, this is why l wrote you, you are the only person that can."”

“"[…]The world has always been an empty place to me. I was incapable of enjoying even the simplest things. I felt dead in everything I did." He brushed the dirt from his hands. “But then it changed," he said. "The night I killed that man."”

“ "She's hiding from me.' He was dreaming, of course. I thought it was rather sweet. So, to humor him, I said, "Well, then. You must hide your eyes and count to ten and she'll come back.""

“He pushed up on his elbows. His eyes were bloodshot and very bright. Don't go," he said. "I'm scared. Stay a little while."”

“ "I am not asking much of you." Only that I do what you tell me […]”

This a book was so incredibly boring. I felt like I was doing required reading for an AP English course. The story/plot could be told in 10 seconds but the author includes so many mundane details that the book feels endless. All of the characters were unlikable in my opinion and everyone was drunk all the time! 

Alicia Sahr

paigev

Arihant Verma

How can you write a review of a masterpiece? Not necessarily by the metric of having become one of the most successful stories and books of the past century, by the the virtue of it being a literary masterpiece as well. Each page unfolded development of characters, each page added an aesthetic of style, jumping sentence to sentence.

A friend, Damini Kane ( you should read her wonderful book The Sunlight Plane) had suggested it. Then I saw it in the list of 100 recommended books to read at the back of Stephen King's On Writing. This is impeccable writing. Go read it.

elizabeth

Why not 5 stars? Book 2 was arduous at times. That said, this book has everything:

1. Characters whose consciences are landfills. It seems like some critical reviews take issue with these characters. And, sure, no love of Greek could convince me to sign up for Julian’s class if it meant having to whisper in libraries and skulk across courtyards with these pretentious freaks. But I loved reading about them.

2. Romanticization of people, ideas, elite institutions, and (view spoiler)[murder (hide spoiler)]. I don’t think Tartt romanticizes these things, but her characters--especially her narrator--absolutely do.

3. Peak campus novel vibes. Tartt somehow makes the 80s feel like a varnished oil painting in this cozy-meets-culty northeastern setting. To be honest, I picked up this book because I wanted these vibes. It delivered.

4. References to Greek shit I don’t understand. I don’t have much more to say about this one except that I imagine that having a better understanding of the Classics would only make me like this more.

sani

“beauty is terror. whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”

The Secret History was my first dark academia book and i think that it'd be difficult for any book to surpass it now. the book had me on an edge from the very beginning even though it was a rather slow read. from the very beginning, i was in awe of Henry and Julian and i still am. 

when Henry said that “but one mustn't underestimate the primal appeal – to lose one's self, lose it utterly. and in losing it be born to the principle of continuous life, outside the prison of mortality and time.”, i had to take a pause because in a very perverse way, this sounds so intriguing. Henry's will to completely lose his self which i am very sure that Julian supported as well, fascinated me. of course, i wouldn't like to do that but i certainly want to delve deeper into this thinking theoretically. 

i loved this book and i wish i had read it sooner.

there are so many words and yet there are none

arwen

3.5. finally finished this after idk how many days

Vier jongens en een meisje vormen een exclusief groepje studenten klassiek Grieks aan een Amerikaans college waar hun experimenten met oude Griekse riten leiden tot twee moorden.

El secreto

Julia Monreal 

Me ha encantado. Es un libro para no olvidar nunca. Me advirtieron de que podría resultar un poco pesado, y aunque puede ser un poco cierto, merece la pena, porque Donna Tart escribe que da gloria. Me ha gustado mucho la historia, la forma de narrar los hechos, los personajes... Quizás lo más llamativo hayan sido ellos, y el como ella ha jugado con ellos a partir de la presencia del protagonista y narrador. Además resulta muy interesante todo lo que relaciona con la mitología y la Grecia clásica.

Hanna Rybchynska

I definetly need to re-read this book!
This is one of those books that have so many layers and secrets, that I feel that I didn't understand everything from the first read. Totally fascinated by the idea of the book, and its caracters. 
All of the friends have some kind of secrtets but we only know what narrator knows. However, the writer tries to give us clues to discover those secrets but we are too focused on the main story.
Great plot and story!

maya

so draggy i had to google spoilers. also heard that donna tart said the n word twice so

literauri

4.5*

i feel like i would not trust Henrys anymore

Truly deserving of the accolade Modern Classic, Donna Tartt's cult bestseller The Secret History is a remarkable achievement - both compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.'A haunting, compelling and brilliant piece of fiction' The Times'So irresistible and seductive it's almost a guilty pleasure' GuardianUnder the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.'Enthralling . . . image the plot of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment crossed with the story of Euripides' Bacchae set against the backdrop of Bret Easton Ellis's The Rules of Attraction . . . forceful, cerebral and impeccably controlled . . . ferociously well-paced . . . remarkably powerful' The New York Times'Donna Tartt is an amazingly good writer. She's dense, she's allusive. She's a gorgeous storyteller' Stephen KingDonna Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, and is a graduate of Bennington College. She is the author of the novels The Secret History and The Little Friend, which have been translated into thirty languages, and The Goldfinch.

The Secret History

I don’t know what I expected from this book but that wasn’t it

Pia 

an exceptional story that made my jaw drop more than a few times, despite the key plot point revealed at the very beginning. it's beautifully written and full of suspense, with fascinating characters. reading about the acts people are capable of while infatuated with beauty and how it can affect morality was captivating.

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

"The Secret History" de Donna Tartt es una obra maestra literaria que cautiva con su mezcla de misterio, intriga y exploración de la psique humana. Publicada en 1992, la novela sigue la historia de un grupo selecto de estudiantes de literatura clásica en una prestigiosa universidad de Nueva Inglaterra y los eventos que llevan a un acto de violencia impactante.

El libro, narrado por Richard Papen, un estudiante recién llegado e intruso en este círculo exclusivo, revela la historia de estos jóvenes eruditos obsesionados con las antiguas culturas griegas y romanas. A medida que se profundiza en su fascinación por la estética clásica, los límites entre la realidad y la ficción, la moralidad y la decadencia comienzan a desdibujarse.

La narrativa es rica en detalles, con una prosa elegante que refleja la pasión de los personajes por la literatura clásica y la estética antigua. Tartt crea un ambiente envolvente que sumerge a los lectores en la intensidad de las relaciones entre los personajes y la creciente tensión que conduce a un trágico evento.

Uno de los logros más destacados de "The Secret History" es la complejidad y la autenticidad de los personajes. Tartt explora sus motivaciones, sus debilidades y sus oscuros secretos, creando retratos psicológicos vívidos que desafían las expectativas del lector.

La novela también aborda temas universales como la búsqueda del conocimiento, los límites éticos en la búsqueda de la perfección estética y la naturaleza del mal. La trama magistralmente construida y los personajes memorables han asegurado que "The Secret History" sea aclamada como una de las novelas más influyentes y perdurables de la literatura contemporánea.

En resumen, "The Secret History" es una obra cautivadora que invita a los lectores a adentrarse en un mundo de erudición, obsesión y consecuencias inesperadas. Con su narrativa rica y su exploración profunda de la psicología humana, Donna Tartt ha creado una obra que sigue siendo tan impactante hoy como cuando se publicó por primera vez.

Isabella

Lindy

A lot of people seem to approach The Secret History as a variation on a murder mystery, which explains why they'd find the second half to be tedious. I think this is a mischaracterization. In my reading, the novel primarily serves as a deconstruction of paranoia and conspiracy (albeit one I don't entirely agree with). Conspiracy is everywhere: the book takes its title from  Procopius's controversial writings on Byzantine imperial power, the opening passages muse on the nature of the malleability of reality, the "Vermonters'" distrust of the college students due to their aloofness and the students' fear of the Vermonters' pushback, the deeply seated American cultural fears of paganism invoked by the Bacchanal, Julian's involvements with exiled foreign governments, the police's belief in the existence of a malicious drug ring. The thrill is in watching the characters attempt to cope: Judy remarks that the scene at the college reminds her of a Philip K. Dick story, a townie starts a rumor that Arabs did it, and ultimately (view spoiler)[ Richard and Charles conclude that Henry is conspiring against them (hide spoiler)]. The enemy is outside; the enemy is within; the enemy is one's own perceptions of the world. 

In other words, this is probably where some of the Maura Murray enthusiasts get some of their weirder theories/screwed up ethics.

Selin Igten

i am scarred for life and i simply don’t know how to process all of this

Donna Tartt's The Secret History is the original American campus novel. When Richard Papen joins an elite group of clever misfits at his New England college, it seems he can finally become the person he wants to be. But the moral boundaries he will cross with his new friends - and the deaths they are responsible for - will change all of their lives forever. The Secret History recounts the terrible price we pay for mistakes made on the dark journey to adulthood.

** spoiler alert **
           3.5 rounded up to 4

OH WOOOW.. this was a journey and quite frankly one of the longest books i’ve read up to date (or maybe depending on the edition. I got the one with tiny texts and 600+ pages) 

Where to begin.. the first few pages was kind of slow and I don’t really like slow beginnings. It’s just a personal preference as I get bored easily but I managed to power through it and I’m so glad I did. The slow pace was really necessary for the story tho I was kind of zoning out in some areas but I really did enjoy the well-detailed descriptions. 

The characters are okay. I didn’t really connect with them hahdhahdha but I like them enough to finish the book. The dynamics are interesting. 

Now I didn’t have much reaction from this book.. I started gasping and covering my mouth towards the end part where yk when Henry off-ed himself or when Richard saw Charles and Camilla kiss. But it’s alright. It’s still a great book despite me not feeling anything. 

Then the ending……… no comment? Nawww but seriously I really expected them to kind of drift apart from each other at the end the moment they k* Bunny. I just didn’t expect Henry to k* himself??? What?? I thought there would be some kind of well thought out plan since It’s Henry we’re talking about. But nonetheless I can’t complain. The ending didn’t hit that hard for me. I didn’t shed a tear reading this book. But from found family trope to strangers PHEWWW oh boy that one hits.

Ik it’s technically not “found family trope” given the circumstances in which they k* Bunny but I like imagining that for a moment they really treated each other like family because of how dysfunctional their relationships are with their real family.

(Tho, I kind of wished Richard’s parents made an appearance later at the end. Doesn’t have to be an actual appearance maybe just them talking?? Idk I was invested in his relationship with his parents LOL)

Sean Wilson

A really engaging read—despite the author’s approach of telling you the key plot development right up front, there’s still no shortage of surprises along the way.

i liked the premise, but i couldn’t bring myself to empathize with any of the characters.

Keira Ostrosser

Believe me when I finished this book, the words: “Jahat banget lu Donna Tarrt.” Left my mouth. This has me in shambles for a moment lol maybe I’m too fond of Henry idk man these lads needs to stay away from gun I guess (finger pointed at Neil Perry)

trezaa

A favourite of mine. Every character left me touched, and the story as a whole was deeply satisfying. When I finished it I had to take the rest of the day off to bask in the magnificent glow it left in its wake.

river

justice for francis omg

i actually enjoyed this a lot more than i expected to

The Secret History

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